Wrong-way driver pleads guilty to intoxication manslaughter

Attorney Shawn Brown (left) speaks with defendant Jeffrey Theisen (right) Wednesday August 14, 2013 in the 399th District Court. Theisen is accused of intoxication manslaughter when he allegedly drove the wrong way on Interstate 37 in December of 2011 and hit a car head-on driven by Christina Renee Flores, a 43-year-old mother of three. Flores died at the scene.

Jeffrey Eugene Theisen's punishment could range from two to 20 years in prison, or probation.

Without hesitation, Jeffrey Eugene Theisen, 30, told jurors in 399th District Court on Thursday that he was responsible for the 2011 wrong-way crash that killed a 43-year-old mother of three children, and pleaded guilty to intoxication manslaughter.

The jury now is tasked with assessing Theisen's punishment — which could range from two to 20 years in prison, or probation — for killing Christina Renee Flores.

On Saturday, Dec. 10, 2011, about 4 a.m., Flores got a call from her boyfriend, Juan Jose Gomez Jr., saying he'd gotten into an argument with his brother and needed a ride.

She picked him up, and on the way back home, Theisen, driving a Chevrolet Cavalier the wrong way on Interstate 37 near Jones Avenue, smashed into the PT Cruiser driven by Flores.

Police Detective John Doyle, a traffic investigator, testified that Flores' car had veered slightly right just before impact, in an attempt to avoid the crash.

“If it had been a direct head-on, all the energy would have been focused,” he said. “It may well have been a triple fatality.”

Flores died at the scene, about an hour after the crash.

Gomez told the jury what happened during the frantic seconds right before the crash, as the headlights appeared over the hill, coming toward them.

“I told her to scoot over, get over, and she got nervous, she said 'What do I do?'” he said. “Then I went for the wheel to jerk it.”

After the impact, he said he called 911, put his jacket around Flores because it was chilly that night, told her “it's gonna be OK, mama,” gave her a little kiss and was soon after ushered away by emergency responders.

“Personally, I still feel a lot of guilt,” he said. “If I wouldn't have called her it wouldn't have happened to her, but it probably would have happened to someone else.”

Theisen's blood-alcohol content was .18 — more than twice the legal limit — when a sample of his blood was drawn at the hospital about three hours after the crash, according to testimony from Veronica Hargrove, chief toxicologist with the medical examiner's office.

“She did a lot for me as a friend and I did the same for her; I think that's why we had such a connection,” Gomez recalled from the witness stand. “But, it was snapped that night. And it hurts to this day.”

A handyman by trade, Gomez testified that he still has pain in his knee and shoulder from the accident.